I'm an associate editor at Forbes, part of the team responsible for our signature issues: The Forbes 400, Global Billionaires and America's Richest Families. As a writer, I cover these wealthy business builders as well as other entrepreneurs. Before Forbes, I also reported on entrepreneurs for Inc. magazine and attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Today’s report marks a little more than a year since CEO Indra Nooyi outlined transition plans to trim costs and reinvest in the company’s core brands. Pepsi increased marketing efforts for its flagship products, goods like Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker and its namesake cola.

For the year, Pepsi earned $6.5 billion on $65.5 billion in sales. While a drop from a year earlier, Pepsi had warned investors to expect the turnaround plans to dampen these figures. And still, since making the announcement, Pepsi shares outperformed chief rival Coca-Cola by 2 percentage points (11.8% versus 9.5%, respectively). Pepsi also competes with packaged-food companies like Mondelez International, Kellogg and General Mills.

That Nooyi’s plans are already seeming to boost Pepsi stock should tamp down calls for her to step down. Nooyi, the 56-year-old who ranked No. 12 on Forbes‘ most recent Power Women roll, had taken a great deal of criticism for focusing on healthy products that took attention away from Pepsi’s older brands. The goals she laid out last year were a direct response to that, and she’s earned some breathing room. Provided, of course, that Pepsi continues at this clip.

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Abram good read, just wondering if I could get your opinion though: What do you believe is the future of the pop/soda industry. do you ever believe that either Pepsi or Coke will be the last Pop standing? Or do you believe that they will always be each others main competition?